Nutrients for optimizing body health.

During recent decades there has been increasing recognition that the relative and absolute amounts of ordinary nutrients in the diet can have important effects on growth, health, wellbeing and aging. It takes a great deal of energy to keep our bodies operational. The shear mass of food consumed and broken down to release energy should provide the insight that metabolism is the dominant chemical process that takes place in our bodies. It is also the process that creates almost all the chemically active free radicals in our bodies and eventually processes them into chemically inactive carbon dioxide and water.

The synthesis of new cells to replace old body material similar but not in the quantities as being the case during the energy production. All our body cells are replaced within ate least 7 years. At the most rudimentary biochemical level underlying all of our metabolic processes are redox reactions, which are responsible for metabolism (gene expression, protein production, repair, new cell production, etc. That is, oxidation and anti-oxidation (reduction) are how life manifest itself.

If you have a look at charts that presents an attempt to trace all the biochemical pathways of cellular metabolism and their interactions you get an impression of parts of the chemistry that takes place in every single one of your cells, and the magnitude of the complexity boggles the mind. To say it is extraordinarily complex is a gross understatement. By now more than 4300 different enzymes have been proven to be involved and exist. That in order for this system to function, it must be highly organized and controlled. Taking into account how little we did know in the past and have a look at the recommendations put forward by the government and other organisations it is guessing at its best. Stupid, beside facts, arrogant, misleading and commercial driven.

If we now view this from a straight thermodynamic argument, it requires energy to establish and maintain order, and diminishing energy progressively leads to increased disorder (increased entropy). As the energy available to a cell diminishes, for any reason, it is reasonable to assume that the highly ordered cellular chemistry will gradually become less well ordered and controlled. These progresses, cellular reactions will start to malfunction. The ones that malfunction first will vary depending on the cell type and genetic makeup of that individual.

Thus, the resulting degenerative "disease" will be expressed differently, but the root cause will be the same. Once disorder starts, it can result in a multitude of different disease expressions, depending on which cell types are involved and the basic genetic makeup. The weakest link will go first, which will be unpredictable. Disruption of metal ion homeostasis may lead to oxidative stress, a state where increased formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) overwhelms body antioxidant protection and subsequently induces DNA damage, lipid peroxidation, protein modification and other effects, all symptomatic for numerous diseases, involving cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, atherosclerosis, neurological disorders (Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease), chronic inflammation and others.

The underlying mechanism of action for all these metals involves formation of the superoxide radical, hydroxyl radical (mainly via Fenton reaction) and other ROS, finally producing mutagenic and carcinogenic malondialdehyde (MDA), 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE) and other exocyclic DNA adducts.

Elevated generation of free radicals resulting in the consumption of antioxidant defence components may lead to disruption of cellular functions and oxidative damage to membranes and may enhance susceptibility to lipid peroxidation . Under physiological conditions, a widespread antioxidant defence system protects the body against the adverse effects of free radical production.

The antioxidant defence system represents a complex network with interactions, synergy and specific tasks for a given antioxidant. The efficiency of this defence mechanism is altered in diabetes and, therefore, the ineffective scavenging of free radicals may play a crucial role in determining tissue damage .

The cell death field has attracted much attention in the last two decades, mainly because of its relevance to development, degenerative diseases, and cancer. However, the field of cell death research is by no means new. The concepts of cellular demise and associated terminology have been evolving since the 19th century. The term programmed cell death refers to controlled or regulated forms of death associated with a series of biochemical and morphological changes]. The realization that some forms of cell death were biologically controlled or programmed has led to exploitation of these processes and has made profound impact in various fields of biology and medicine.

The fact that the cells survival critically depends on the ability to mount an appropriate response towards environmental or intracellular stress stimuli can explain why this reaction is highly conserved in evolution. For example, antioxidant defence mechanisms against oxidative injury and stress proteins such as heat shock proteins occur in lower organisms as well as the mammals.

Nowadays, programmed cell death is synonymous with apoptosis; however, based on the original definition it also refers to autophagy cell death. The term apoptosis was first used to describe a particular morphology of cell death common to the vast majority of physiological cell deaths. This morphology includes shrinkage and blebbing of cells, rounding and fragmentation of nuclei with condensation, and margination of chromatin, shrinkage, and phagocytosis of cell fragments without accompanying inflammatory responses (in most cases).

The morphology of cells undergoing apoptosis appeared dissimilar and distinct from the morphology associated with necrosis. Necrosis, a term commonly used by pathologists, refers to any deaths associated with the loss of control of ionic balance, uptake of water, swelling, and cellular lysis.

The cells initial response to a stressful stimulus is geared towards helping the cell to defend against and recover from the insult. However, if the noxious stimulus is unresolved, then cells activate death-signalling pathways.

There are many different types of stress and the response a cell mounts to deal with these conditions will depend on the type and level of the insult. For example, protective responses such as the heat shock response or the unfolded protein response mediate an increase in chaperone protein activity which enhances the protein folding capacity of the cell, thus counteracting the stress.

Therefore, depending on the level and mode of stress, different defence mechanisms and pro-survival strategies are mounted; however, if these are unsuccessful, then the cell death programs are activated to eliminate these damaged cells from the organism. The mechanism by which a cell dies, that is, apoptosis, necrosis, pyro ptosis, or autophagy cell death, often depends on its ability to cope with the conditions to which it is exposed.

Cell death research encompasses not only the study of programmed forms of cell death (both apoptosis and autophagy cell death), necrosis and other modes of cellular demise but also the role these phenomena play in physiological and pathological processes including development, aging, and disease.

The cell death field has attracted much attention in the last two decades, mainly because of its relevance to development, degenerative diseases, and cancer.

The overall biochemical oxidative system and assume that the bioactive materials called antioxidants do work to lower the potential for oxidative damage. A less well-known characterization of a solution is the degree to which it is oxidizing or reducing.

Again it is not sufficient to simply say it is oxidizing or reducing, but rather it is a continuum of change with the standard unit of measure being the Eh. The reason the

pH and Eh are so important is because together, they exert a powerful action on any other chemistry that is taking place in the watery solution. This is true, not just for laboratory

solutions, but also for the biochemistry-taking place in cells. Taking an overall look at the oxidation potential (Eh) as oxygen progresses through our bodies, it is highest where oxygen first enters the lungs. It is slightly lower as it diffuses into the blood and even lower as it diffuses from the blood into cells. Once it enters the cells it is continually lowered as the state of the oxygen is transformed in the multitude of steps associated with metabolizing food. Eventually it exits our bodies at a very low oxidation potential as carbon dioxide and water in our urine, feces and breath.

All chemical reactions involve the formation of free radicals as intermediate steps since they all require the transfer of unpaired electrons. Yes, free radicals are responsible for

biological damage since all chemical reactions, beneficial and damaging, involve free radicals. If we compare the mass of food eaten with the mass of any set of antioxidants consumed, the mass of the antioxidants is minuscule. Their dominant influence has to be their role as catalysts. Catalysts play an enormous role in

chemistry. They serve to promote chemical reactions but are not consumed in them. It is unreasonable to assume that they act as simple reactants consuming oxygen free radical species, thus competing with food. In this way extremely small amounts can

have very large effects. In biochemistry, catalysts are called enzymes. The large number of such enzymes which operate inside our cells does not seem to be common, but all been identified as

playing discrete, specialized roles in our biochemistry. These too have to be synthesized in our cells. Both neither vitamins, minerals, nor hormones can do any work without enzymes. This is what makes enzyme depletion especially concerning, and why it needs to stop in the interest of human health.

The human body makes approximately 22 groups of digestive enzymes, capable of digesting protein, carbohydrates, sugars, and fats. Food is digested in stages, beginning in the mouth, moving to the stomach, and finally through the small intestine. At each step, specific enzymes break down different types of foods.

As enzymes begin digesting food in the mouth and continue to do the same in the stomach, plant enzymes also become active. The food then enters the upper portion of the small intestine where the pancreas provides pancreatic enzymes to further break

down food. The final breakdown of remaining small molecules of food occurs in the smaller lower intestine. Ideally, the different types of enzymes work together to help digest food and deliver nutrients to cells to maintain their health.

Causes of enzyme depletion

Unfortunately, enzymes are being depleted at every stage from seed to plate. This has caused enzyme deficiencies in the human body that leads to all kinds of health conditions. The main causes of enzyme depletion include:

 Pesticides and chemicals

 Hybridization and genetic engineering

 Bovine growth hormone

 Pasteurization

 Irradiated food

 Excess intake of unsaturated and hydrogenated fats

 Cooking at high temperatures

 Microwaving

 Radiation and electromagnetic fields

 Geopathic stress zones

 Fluoridated water

 Heavy metals

 Mercury amalgam dental fillings

 Root canals

Health conditions caused by enzyme deficiencies.

Due to their critical role in a variety of functions in the body, enzyme deficiencies can cause many health related symptoms, and many of them can be traced back to the type of enzymes depleted. The following are some of those health conditions associated

It takes some time to increase the amount of enzymes in the body, and these are just a few tips to get started. Consider other lifestyle factors as well, to round out a less stressful

approach to maintain and replenishing these life saving nutrients.

This should give another insight into enormity of the complexity of the chemistry that must take place properly in healthy cells.

Antioxidants is not the selective elimination of damaging free radicals, but rather the enhancement of metabolism in a healthy body. This will increase the rate of consumption of oxygen, lowering the local oxidation potential, making oxidative damage less likely.

As a natural unavoidable consequence, it will increase cellular energy, which can be used for everything including the prevention or repair of damage. Concerning cellular damage, it is very likely that the increased availability of cellular energy is

considerably more important than the reduction of oxidation potential (oxidative free radicals).

Superimposed on this cellular energy argument is the need for special nutrients that may not be required directly for the generation of cellular energy, but are required catalists in specialized biochemical reactions that are powered by

adequate cellular energy, but cannot be accomplished by the availability of energy alone.

The necessary, incredible complexity of the biochemistry of every cell, required for the continuation of health and life itself, reinforces that realization that we depend totally on our natural, genetically controlled chemistry to keep us operational on a day-to-day basis. With few exceptions, we are totally at the mercy of this system operating correctly, on its own.

When the body is no longer able to produce the necessary enzymes, external supply the only alternative have to come from food and supplements. (External) Because we do not known which specific enzyme or coenzyme is missing offer as many different ones as possible.

Each vegetable has its own distribution of different enzymes, some of which our bodies can incorporate sufficiently intact to help us supply/replace our own essential enzymes.

It is unlikely that one vegetable will have a complete distribution of enzymes that will supply all of out needs. However, a wide diversity of vegetables might be needed to cover most. At least, the possibilities improve with the diversity of supply. This would include herbs, honey supplements, seaweeds, Aloe vera, garlic, curcumin and other supplements.

The current problem, of course, is to try to identify what enzymes are missing for a particular disease state, and which vegetable or herb can provide it.

This information is not available, most likely because the problem has not been clearly presented before. Since this information is not available, the safest approach is to resort to a "shotgun" approach using all kind of vegetables and hope that one or more will provide what is needed. Mostly nutrients containing a large mix of substances but low in calaories. It is fuel type containing lots of carbohydrates, protein or oil or the more weed likes like the mentioned above.

There are natural foods rich in different enzymes and anti-

oxidants while other be very limited. Most anti-oxidants are also co-enzymes in a number of occasions.

By identifying the enzymes that are missing in different cancers and the enzyme distribution that is provided by each vegetable or herb. This treatment mechanism is directed towards providing an external supply of essential enzymes that are no longer active in cells.

As would-be expected, when the external supply is terminated, by termination of the diet, one would expect the chronic disesse to return and that is the reported experience. In addition fruits contain a very large amounts of both micro and macronutrient, which might be hard to get for other sources and is used with success, the higher sugar contents compensated in some ways.

As a general rule, nutrition (and exercise) should always be the starting point for dealing with a chronic disease. This will most likely correct a vast majority of diseases. It is only after this approach has been tried and failed, that treatment with drugs should be employed. Drugs very often operate by inter fearing with a natural biochemical process, such as lowering blood cholesterol by interfering with the production of cholesterol in the liver, or by lowering blood pressure by inter fearing with the reabsorption of water in the kidney. So many of them follow this basic principal of interference with a biochemical process. And, this is often very successful for treat a disease or problem, but it also runs a high risk of negative side-effects by inter fearing with some other process that results in damage. In contrast, dietary supplements operate by enhancing biochemical processes. Thus, when addressing a particular disease in this manner, the chances are that while the supplement is enhancing the desired process, it is also enhancing some other one that you were not planning for, with a very positive side-effect. Because of this, the risk of negative side effects from the supplement approach to treatment should be far less than that from drugs, and thus such an approach should be far safer.

Individual antioxidants enhance different parts of the very extensive and complex metabolic process, and there is no single one that enhances every aspect. Therefore, to be complete, we need a matched set of antioxidants that covers the entire range of metabolic processes. Individual ones will enhance only one part of the metabolic chain, shifting the "choke point" to the next slowest part. We would like to know what that best complex of antioxidants is, but, at our present state of knowledge, not enough is known to design it. This leads to the following:

We should start calling antioxidants a name that corresponds to metabolic enhancers.

To be simple, I would suggest we call them Metabolics. Continuing with the name antioxidant will mislead too many people.

To be safe in this era of inadequate knowledge, any individual taking antioxidant supplements should take the broadest combination available.

Research on antioxidants should include an attempt to identify where in the metabolic process a particular antioxidant is utilized with a final goal of designing a complex

that covers as broad a range as possible.

Chronic disease, toxins, health and ageing.

In addition to cumulative exposure of toxins, an even more important issue is interactive exposure of multiple toxins within the human body. In many cases, one poison may be only mildly toxic but when it exists in the body in combination with a second or third (or dozens) of other mildly toxic poisons, the effects become multiplied hundreds or even thousands of times.

The LD-1 of lead (the dose which would kill one rat out of a hundred) was mixed with the LD-1 of mercury, and these two combined to give a tiny lead and mercury dose which instead of killing just two rats out of 100, it killed the entire 100! This is why safety studies are carried out on cleaning products, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and other chemicals are almost totally useless and not so without reason.

By testing only single chemicals and never multiple exposures in the way we are exposed to them in real life. Most of these substances should have never been allowed on the market and into our living environment otherwise. The authorities able to say I did not know, was not aware, you are safe, science has proven.